May 8, 2004

• First, I discovered an 18th use for a J-Phone; check my last post if you’re at all curious. But in any case…

  Onsening in Karuizawa

  Karuizawa: a small resort town right on the border of Nagano and Gunma prefectures (within Nagano). Famous for its hundreds of relaxing onsen (hot springs). With my host parents and host mother’s sister we took a four-day trip there from Tuesday to Friday to spend some time there in my host family’s second house in Kita-Karuizawa. A very relaxing time…

  So relaxing, that it wasn’t humans who were the only ones enjoying themselves. We stopped by Jigokudani (’n–’J – literally, “Hell’s Valley”) to see a monkey park, complete with onsen. He looks relaxed, doesn’t he?

  Thereafter we continued to Karuizawa. We stopped by numerous onsen there, both indoor and outdoor. For those of you unfamiliar with Japanese onsen, normally you strip down, bathe yourself before entering, and slip into the public bath. For onsen in particular, however, there are often minerals (silver, sulphur, etc.) naturally in the water as well. The water is also quite hot… normally 45-55 degrees Celsius (I think).

  Host Father: Relaxing, isn’t it?
  Me: Ah, yeah, it’s hot though
  HF: Hot? Nah, this is kind of tepid (‚Ê‚é‚¢). Not too hot.
  Me: Not too hot?
  HF: Yeah, the next onsen we’re going to is about 5-10 degrees warmer.
  Me: {”};;

  It wasn’t only indoor onsen we hit up; we also took a trip to one large outdoor public bath (‘å˜I“V•—˜C). By large, it’s about the size of a swimming pool… full of hot, onsen water. That was something…

  As Shaun (link on the left) said also, after a while you get used to public baths. Since they’re segregated by gender, of course, I’ve grown accustomed to not feeling odd shedding my clothes in a public onsen or bath. Now, there are actually mixed-baths, and we did take a trip to one of those on our way to Karuizawa. But, don’t go expecting much; like what was said on one of Onigiriman-sensei’s previous posts (link on the left, also), the only women who go in are past-60, and they wrap their towel around themselves fully anyway… in fact, you should be thankful for that.

  Anyway, we got back just yesterday and things are slowly winding down. My exams are next Monday, and other than that there’s nothing to worry about. But, for my next post I believe I’ll start my series of thoughts-on-Japan: each update I’ll do like normal, but also add on a little rant / observation that I’ve gotten out of my brief stay here. Feel free to skip those serious parts, I’m doing this half for my own benefit {^^}.

  Until next time, another question: for those of you in Japan, how do you feel about public baths? Grown used to them? Still a bit embarassed? KF

  • 2:49 am
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